Power Mac G5 - Question

I just got my hands on a Power Mac G5. I got it off a guy for $150!! Let me say, it's an incredible machine. Dual 2.5 G5's with 2Gig of RAM. I installed 10.5.8 on it.

This machine blows both my 2009 13" Macbook and 2008 Mini out of the water when it comes to speed and smoothness. As is it, FCP runs so much better than my Intel Macs that I am in total Awww of it... (can u tell I'm excited about this 6 year old computer )

Since I got it so cheap, I want to upgrade the hell out of it and use it as my primary machine (age of it be damned). I want to expand the RAM fully to 16 GB, put a fast 2 GB HDD in, and get the best possible Video card available.

I have 2 questions:

1. What is the best GPU available for this machine??

2. What is everyone's opinion to the possibility that after I get this thing where I want it, Apple will drop support for Leopard and I will no longer be able to sync my iPhone, iPad, or iPods to it. I of course, Plan to keep my Intel Macs running on the other end of the room (along with my "necessary" PC) but since I sit in THIS chair in my office most of the time, it would be nice to do everything from right here...

I know you don't hear many people wanting to make an older machine their primary computer, but this thing is really a monster...

Since I got it so cheap, I want to upgrade the hell out of it and use it as my primary machine (age of it be damned). I want to expand the RAM fully to 16 GB, put a fast 2 GB HDD in, and get the best possible Video card available.

Click to expand...

Good for you! Glad to hear another PPC admirer is willing to keep his Mac going even when the nay-sayers shoot your idea down. My 1.25ghz iMac G4 is my primary desktop at home, and my 800mhz one is my primary office desktop. I have to say, 9 out of 10 people that come in compliment my iMac. Your Powermac would likely receive equal compliments from me.

2. What is everyone's opinion to the possibility that after I get this thing where I want it, Apple will drop support for Leopard and I will no longer be able to sync my iPhone, iPad, or iPods to it. I of course, Plan to keep my Intel Macs running on the other end of the room (along with my "necessary" PC) but since I sit in THIS chair in my office most of the time, it would be nice to do everything from right here...

Click to expand...

I can't answer your first question, but I have to say that this will likely come sooner than later. Within the next 2 years, I'd guess. Apple has a tendency to focus on 2 Operating Systems at a time - the current, and the most recent. Tiger is just about dead to them after a very long and happy life - longer than any Mac OS before it I'd say.

Since Leopard is the last string that ties PPC users have to the most recent Apple tech they can get their hands on, I'd say Apple would support it longer than Tiger, but not much longer than they already have. The iPhone 4 and iPad 2 both support 10.5.8, which surprised me - to my pleasure - and I'd guess the next round of iPods, the iPhone 5, and the iPad 3 would support 10.5, but my guess is that'll be it.

My iPhone 4 happily syncs with my iMac at home, and it's entirely convenient that my old desktop is my media hub, keeping stuff off my laptops, but the convenience won't be a measure when 10.5 doesn't support my iPhone. I'll always have an iPhone, and I'll keep my iMac G4 going as long as I can. When they drop support for 10.5, worst case, I'll have to migrate all my media to my MacBook - even though everything in one place (even backed up) isn't my ideal safety scenario.

I set my grandparents up on a 350mhz powermac g4 about 7 months ago and they love it. I use a powermac g3 400mhz every once in a while to play some older great games, "You Don't Know Jack" They are truly great machines.

Getting to the point, for video cards try lowendmac.com they have forums dedicated to ppc and I'm sure they have all the different and best cards available for your g5.

As for future support for syncing iOS devices, iTunes will be the biggest culprit. iTunes 10 requires 10.5.8, it's likely that the next major update to iTunes requires 10.6, which PPC's can't run. The big question is, how soon until that happens? With Lion due out this summer, I doubt it will take 2 years before Apple drops support for Leopard.

The most powerful PPC cards are the Nvidia 7800GT or ATI 1900XT. They are pretty much on par performance wise.

They require a PCIe slot, though, which I'm not sure your G5 has. Only the late 2005 models are equipped with this slot. All previous G5 models have a AGP slot, in which case you should settle with a Nvidia 6800 Ultra. However, if you can find one, a flashed PC 7800 for AGP (usually on ebay) will be your best bet.

Oh no, OP - avoid it like plague. It's loud, hot and frequently failing card (and it isn't "top of the line" preformance wise).
Of original Mac ones X800 or X850XT will be most powerful. Of flashed ones 7800GS, like Transporteur said.

I just got my hands on a Power Mac G5. I got it off a guy for $150!! Let me say, it's an incredible machine. Dual 2.5 G5's with 2Gig of RAM. I installed 10.5.8 on it.

This machine blows both my 2009 13" Macbook and 2008 Mini out of the water when it comes to speed and smoothness. As is it, FCP runs so much better than my Intel Macs that I am in total Awww of it... (can u tell I'm excited about this 6 year old computer )

Since I got it so cheap, I want to upgrade the hell out of it and use it as my primary machine (age of it be damned). I want to expand the RAM fully to 16 GB, put a fast 2 GB HDD in, and get the best possible Video card available.

I have 2 questions:

1. What is the best GPU available for this machine??

2. What is everyone's opinion to the possibility that after I get this thing where I want it, Apple will drop support for Leopard and I will no longer be able to sync my iPhone, iPad, or iPods to it. I of course, Plan to keep my Intel Macs running on the other end of the room (along with my "necessary" PC) but since I sit in THIS chair in my office most of the time, it would be nice to do everything from right here...

I know you don't hear many people wanting to make an older machine their primary computer, but this thing is really a monster...

Any thoughts???? Thanks in Advance.

Al Winters

Click to expand...

Wait a minute, when you say you have a Dual 2.5 G5 and wish to expand it to 16GB - Are you sure you have the Late 2004 Dual 2.5 G5 which is notorious for springing leaks, or do you have the G5 Quad which is from October 2005 - Summer of 2006?

G5 Quad can be expanded all the way to 16GB and possibly more now that 4GB chips are available in DDR2.

FYI, unless you're planning on doing heavy-duty gaming (Halo, Quake 4, Doom 3 or the like), I'd stick to a passively-cooled graphics card; the fan noise will be pretty obnoxious, especially if you get an ATI 9800.

Also, think carefully about using that machine as a daily computer--they idleat well over 100W; leaving one of those on regularly will noticeably increase your power bill (unless you have free utilities ) Be aware that things like Netflix streamiing will never work on a PowerPC Mac.

With all that said, I'm glad you're enjoying your "new" toy! I loved my dual G5, and if it were still practical to have it, I would

I have the machine sitting next to me now, partially disassembled ready to upgrade but now I do have some more questions....

TO sysiphus

I am a little concerned here that you say it won't be able to do something as simple as streaming a video from Netflix. What is the constraint. This is huge for my because I do tend to watch a lot of streaming Netflix on my primary machine (Which at the moment is a Mini with 2G of Ram hooked to a acer 26" monitor).....

TO Psychomacuser

I found this. Does it help?? M9591LL/A. What is my Max RAM?

TO All

I am not a gamer. Besides the everyday stuff (Web, Mail, Photos, Sync iOS devices) I do a lot of Photoshop and a whole lot of FCP stuff. I watch Netflix and occasionally use Audacity for edit files created on my Boss BR-600. Remember at the moment, I am doing all of this on a Mini

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